Dan Snow serves up a solid History Hit documentary on the battle of Camden, South Carolina, in August, 1780. Camden was a strategically important hub on the Great Wagon Road, which ran from Philadelphia south and a little west into the backcountry of the southern colonies. General Horatio Gates, the victor of Saratoga (thanks to Benedict Arnold) … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Rebels & Revolutions

The outdoor grilling season is upon us. Both Lady Marilyn and Ceili scored at the 5.11 Tactical Trading Post on our gun-running raid a week ago. I’m not the only walking 5.11 billboard in the Clan. Everyone needs a tactical grilling apron, right? Especially when you can rep Frontier Partisans with a morale patch. My girls are ridin’ for the brand. … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Ridin’ For The Brand & Swingin’ From The Gallows Pole

“Ungentlemanly Warfare” is an excellent way to describe Frontier Partisans action. Just ask the likes of Timothy Murphy or The Great Rascal Benjamin Whitcomb. Fighting dirty is a specialty of the Frontier Partisans. Western European conventional warfare is supposed to be more gentlemanly, at least in theory. By the desperate days of World War II, … [Read more...] about Ungentlemanly Warfare

“Country’s got the devil in it, Joe... The monsters ain’t just in the shadows — they’re in the broad damn daylight...” Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee return in July for the second season of Dark Winds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PwwuQrGC7k * Reader Aaron noted the upcoming release of Warhorse One. Like The Covenant, it’s a pursuit … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline — Afghan Pursuit, Daylight Monsters & Roman Recon

The British actor Ray Stevenson died suddenly at age 58. No word on cause of death — he was hospitalized after a sudden illness while shooting a movie in Italy. Stevenson delivered two iconic Frontier Partisan roles — as Roman Legionary Titus Pullo in HBO’s Rome and as Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, in STARZ Black Sails. He had a knack for … [Read more...] about Death Of A Swashbuckler

Lady Marilyn pointed out that Jason Isbell has a role in the upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon. So does Sturgill Simpson. Scorsese is tapping a couple of luminaries of Americana music. The film — which clocks in at a whopping 3-1/2 hours —  appears to be a worthy one. Reports from Cannes depict a rhapsodic response. A 9-minute standing ovation is … [Read more...] about Working The Trapline – Revolution, Rock & Roll And Buffalo Battles

“I am not sorry to see the fact that he was perished from this world.” — Moshe Dagan, Mossad Chief 2002-2010 on the car bomb killing of Imad Mughniyeh I have long been fascinated by Imad Mughniyeh. A senior man in Hezbollah, he was a deadly enemy of the U.S. and Israel, deeply involved in operations in Lebanon that included the bombing of the … [Read more...] about Ghosts Of Beirut

“There are many, so many, hungry wolves. Can you find the wolves in this picture?”  Lordy. The trailer for Killers of the Flower Moon just dropped. Wow. This tale exposes one of the darkest corners of American history. A lot of blood has been spilled for that Black Gold. In the 1920s the richest people per capita in the world … [Read more...] about Blood And Black Gold

For a dozen years now, I’ve been stoking this electronic campfire, which has brought together folk from literally around the world who have an interest in frontier history and culture. Quite a few of us shape our day-to-day lives around a modern version of a frontier mindset. Andrew Scott Wills is one of us. As Hawken Horse, he’s a balladeer … [Read more...] about Hawken Horse — Balladeer Of The Frontier

The Legends of the Old West Podcast is a good ’un. Host Chris Wimmer went and committed a book, whose conceit is a solid one: Exploring the pivotal Summer of 1876. That centennial year saw a lot of action on the North American frontier, most notably with the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the James-Younger Gang’s debacle in the Northfield Raid, and … [Read more...] about Remembering The Summer Of ’76